ZenPop Japanese Beauty Pack is a monthly subscription from Zenmarket that sends Japanese drugstore skincare products, popular cosmetics, and a few accessories.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About ZenPop
The Subscription Box: ZenPop Japanese Beauty Pack
The Cost: $29.50 a box + free worldwide shipping. Save with longer commitments.
The Products: Japanese drugstore skincare products, popular cosmetics, and accessories
Ships to: Worldwide
ZenPop Japanese Beauty Pack March 2018 Review
I am new to reviewing this subscription and was excited to see what they had in store:
This full-color information booklet was included. I appreciate the details since some of the packaging of cosmetic and skincare items didn’t have a lot of English text!
Hanabanashi Kanzashi Style Ear Pick – Listed Value ¥500 (about $4.69 USD)
If you search “ear pick” online, you’ll get something intended for cleaning ears, but this is meant as a decoration for a hairstyle. One of these days I am going to master putting my hair in a bun (it’s kind of thin right now as a result of weight loss and major abdominal surgery, so buns aren’t looking great at the moment) and this will be a fun decoration.
Rohto Lip Baby Lip and Eye Crayon – Retail Value $7.38 USD, Listed Value ¥680
Three colors of this item were possible and I have no idea which one this is. But anyway, with products like this, I like to choose either “lip” or “eye” and not use it in both places. I decided to go with a lip color for this one after swatching it (see below). I recently got Invisalign and taking the bottom tray out to eat gets lip color all over my face, but I thought a light lip color might not be much of a problem, and I was right. This has very little transfer to mugs and other surfaces, which is wonderful. It’s moisturizing enough to wear at least half the day before reapplying, and the color is very buildable.
This is the color you get after a few swipes.
Pure Smile White Rose Essence Sheet Mask (from Sun Smile brand) – Estimated Value $1.01 USD, Listed Value ¥108 (Buy 30 Masks for $30.40)
This is meant to be more of a moisturizing product as it contains collagen and hyaluronic acid (two polymers that hold on to a lot of water near the surface of the skin; they may help minimize the appearance of fine lines, as well). This also has vitamin E, which is an antioxidant, and arbutin, which is said to reduce melanin production in the skin. I can’t say I saw any effects on skin pigmentation after one use (and I am super pale, anyway), but it was moisturizing and the essence took awhile to absorb into my skin after I finished with the mask. It had a semi-strong floral scent but didn’t irritate my skin.
Festive Sakura Frame Purse – Listed Value ¥1490 (about $13.98 USD)
I don’t get any kawaii or lifestyle boxes, so I don’t already have a ton of items like this. This is cute and has a lovely design for spring. I am using it in my purse to store a few pairs of contact lenses (I wear dailies and I like to have a couple extras in case of issues) and a bottle of contact lens rewetting drops.
Pokemon Pikachu Pocket Tissue Case – Listed Value ¥600 (about $5.63)
I haven’t played a Pokemon game since they were first released for Nintendo GameBoy like 18+ years ago! But anyway. I do like to carry Kleenex around in my purse and now I have a cute case for them. This came with a few tissues, as you can see, and even though it is not quite the same size as travel Kleenex packs, they will fit in here since it is soft-sided.
My Melody Bath Ball with Gachapon – Listed Value ¥470 (about $4.41 USD)
I can only find these on eBay and then there are a ton of Youtube videos for them, so I’ve just used the value from the information card since the other values they listed seemed accurate (at least for items I could find for sale online). Anyway, this totally turned my bathwater pink but didn’t stain the tub and it left my skin nice and soft. And inside was this little figure:
Who I gather is My Melody (I’m not really familiar with Sanrio characters).
Verdict: I calculated a total value of about $37.12 for the March 2018 Zenpop Beauty Pack. I think that is a pretty good deal, especially considering free international shipping is offered (and that’s not cheap!). I did have to rely on a lot of the values from the information card (which were given in yen) but when I could find the items for sale, the information card values were close or even a little low, which makes me think the other values are reliable as well. As I said elsewhere, I don’t have any kawaii-type subscriptions, so the non-beauty items are new types of items for me to receive in a subscription box and the novelty is definitely still there. Several were immediately useful in my purse. I also enjoyed trying out the beauty items and liked that there was a mix of skincare, bath/body, and cosmetic items instead of being heavily weighted towards one category. I thought this was definitely a fun subscription to receive and I look forward to future months.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, the current pack available is April’s.
Value Breakdown: At $29.50 for this subscription, you’re paying approximately the following per item:
- Hair pick $3.73
- Lip and eye crayon $5.88
- Mask $0.80
- Purse $11.11
- Tissue holder $4.47
- Bath bomb $3.50
Check out all of our ZenPop reviews and more k-beauty reviews in the Beauty Subscription Box List!
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What did you think of the March 2018 Zenpop Beauty Pack? Do you get any K-beauty subscriptions?
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